At Peace
by aussie-chick-13
Summary: A sad smile appeared on his face. He looked back up to the four men staring at him. The man turned around briefly to place the golden pin in front of the photo on the desk. Taking a deep breath he composed himself. “I’m sorry,”. Oneshot. Character death


_This is just a little one shot that I've thought about for a while and finally decided to write it down. Kinda depressing. Actually very. Note: pin referred to is an SAS pin_

"We found him," The call had surprised Alan Blunt. Something that was not easy to do. Pressing one long pale finger to the intercom button the Head of MI6 waited for Mrs Jones to arrive in his office.

Tulip Jones prided herself of being nearly as unemotional as her boss when it came to dealing with her work. However, this was one issue where she just couldn't remain impassive. She heard the intercom ring for exactly 2 seconds and got up. Smoothing her skirt and top out as she walked to Mr Blunt's office, all the while worrying. If the rumours were to be believed… She entered the office without knocking, knowing he was expecting her.

"Blunt," she said simply nodding her head.

"They found him," he replied tersely. Mrs Jones just sighed and closed her eyes briefly.

"Which means he let them find him. I'm sending in the SAS," Blunt continued. Jones frowned for a second.

"Jones, I know you feel responsible, but I cannot afford to take chances. After the events of our last interaction, there must be no risk," Mrs Jones took a deep breath and held her head high.

"There will be a risk, and there will always continue to be a risk until he is dead," Blunt simply nodded.

"I'm aware of that," Mrs Jones took that as her signal to leave. As she closed the door she saw Blunt pick up the phone. Mrs Jones walked back to her desk calmly picked up her coat and bag and signed out as sick. There were many things that this woman had done. But she refused to be apart of this.

Waiting at a desk in a long abandoned apartment was a young blonde haired man. He was just 22 but his eyes were those of a war veteran. The only movement in the room was the man's arm bringing a glass to his lips every once in a while and the slight shifting of the photo he held in his fingers. The glass only held water, the man's uncle had never drunk and so neither did he. The photo showed a bright eyed 14 year old being held in a headlock by a firey red head while an amused older man looked on. All three were smiling even the normally serious older man. One of the few times they were all together the man mused. A golden pin lay on the table next to the blonde. Every so often his gaze would be drawn to it, as he remembered. A whisper of a smile passed over the man's face as he thought about his old life. Before…. Well before everything.

All K-Unit knew was that they were being sent to bring in an enemy operative only known as 'Xander'. They knew that he was unimaginably dangerous and had some serious issues with MI6. Wolf shifted his hold on the assault rifle resting in his arms. He gestured toward the door three times and waited for the rest of his unit to get into position. Eagle and Fox silently passed to the other side of the door while Snake stayed with him. As Wolf held up three fingers Eagle reached out, his hand hovering near the door handle. Fox and Snake both focused on the door ready to move as soon as Wolf gave the signal. As his third finger dropped, Eagle turned the handle and pushed the door wide open. Fox and Wolf moved in first guns raised with Eagle and Snake close behind.

The young man had been expecting it; in fact he was surprised they had taken this long. He had heard them a few minutes ago as they pulled up outside. The blonde just titled his head slightly and raised an eyebrow at the SAS' sudden entrance. The glass briefly paused on it's way up to the man's mouth but soon resumed it's journey. He took a brief sip and savoured the taste of the fresh water. He knew he would not taste anything else.

The soldiers were definitely shocked at the suspect's lack of surprise not to mention the fact he didn't seem at all concerned his was surrounded by SAS troops.

"Put your hands where we can see them,"

The man smirked, despite knowing that the other men couldn't see him. He carefully slipped the photo back into its frame and placed it gently on the desk. He took one last long look at it. Before reaching out to grab the golden pin.

"Subtlety was never really your strong point, Wolf," the man remarked seemingly casually. He voice was quiet but strong. The voice of a man who only had one more goal to complete.

Wolf froze. How did this guy know his name?

"Turn around," he commanded. The blonde nodded and stood up picking up the handgun off the desk as he did. Shockingly familiar brown eyes stared a K-Unit. But it couldn't be… Fox was the first to recover.

"Alex," a flash of recognition flared briefly in the blonde's eyes. The corners of his lips twitched slightly in the shadow of a smile.

"Alex,' he repeated softly as if struggling to fit his mouth around the word.

"It's been a long time since someone called me that," he said dryly.

"Cub put the gun down, we don't want to hurt you," Wolf said carefully. The young man looked up meeting Wolf's gaze.

"No I suppose you don't," he said, more to himself than to anyone else. He glanced down at the gun as if just noticing it for the first time. A sad smile appeared on his face. He looked back up to the four men staring at him. The man turned around briefly to place the golden pin in front of the photo on the desk. Taking a deep breath he composed himself, the young man brought the gun up to his head.

"I'm sorry," A single gunshot rang out through the deserted apartment.

His funeral was at dusk, a few clouds were scattered across the sky. Only seven people attended. Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones both stood with their faces set like stone. K-Unit stood in their uniforms trying desperately to remember Cub as the slightly cocky, bright eyed youngster all those years ago not as the broken man who had said his last words to them. Fox was the one who placed the photo from the apartment on the casket. Wolf had silently joined him and had put the golden pin onto of the photo. The only other person there was a red-eyed, short man in his 20's. Tom Harris had been told of Alex's death only a few hours ago. Even after so long of not knowing the information was barely reassuring. But perhaps out of all the people there Tom was the one who understood. Tom had seen what this life had been doing to his friend. He took comfort in the knowledge that at least in death Alex would be left alone. Finally, his friend was at peace.


End file.
